


Lost Stars

by orphan_account



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future Fish, Chef Nanase Haruka, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Nonbinary Rin Matsuoka, Other, Police Officer Matsuoka Rin, Trans Kou Matsuoka
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-25
Updated: 2014-09-25
Packaged: 2018-02-18 16:56:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2355722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From a prompt on tumblr by myshiningharu- Rin and Haru meet at a masquerade run by fucking Nagisa. Also gender headcanon stuff because hey why not we need more trans free</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost Stars

Movies always talked about girls that were hell in high heels, but none had ever warned him about how high heels were hell.

_Ow, ow ow._

Kou had said it would be hard (when she’d first started presenting as feminine he’d had to take her to the hospital after she’d fallen down a flight of stairs trying to deal with stilettos), but  _fuck,_ he’d underestimated her words. Walking in these shoes seemed simple enough in theory (his logic had been that Kou could do it without any trouble and she was one of the least athletically gifted people in the world) but in practice, it was the opposite, and with the added pain of his pinched feet, he wasn’t sure how long he was going to last in them. Taking them off was impossible as he hadn’t bought another pair of shoes and going barefoot at one of Nagisa’s parties meant getting your feet covered in various unmentionable substances, but he was constantly about to fall on his ass and it was really not making him feel any better.

Kou coming out as a trans girl had made him start questioning his gender and dressing more feminine. While he’d discovered that he looked great in skirts, he did have to worry about creeps giving him weird looks. Nagisa wasn’t friends with any assholes like that, but he was still worried about getting shit about the way he dressed. At least no one would realize he wasn’t a cis chick if he kept his mask on, right? Right. He shook off his fears, and continued to stumble through the party in his heels, hoping desperately to find a place to sit down.

As luck would have it, a space was free on a ratty old couch in a quiet spot out the back of Nagisa’s house. As this was Rin’s luck, a couple with their faces tangled up was headed towards it as the same time as he was. Forgetting his footwear and assuming he had the speed advantage as he was only one person and they were two, he made a beeline for the seat, wobbled on his heels, and made a spectacular backwards descent.

Until someone with very muscular arms (God, he was sounding like Kou now), grabbed him and pulled him against their chest. 

He swiveled his head around to see who had caught him and saw nothing but blue.

Oh. Hang on. Those were just their eyes. Damn. They were pretty as fuck. Rin’s own eyes took in a white mask, a tuxedo, a black cape lined with red, and  _hang the fuck on_.

Rin narrowed his eyes at the stranger. “Tuxedo mask?”

They cocked their head. “Is that who I’m dressed as?”

"You came dressed up as him. How did you not know?"

They shrugged. “This was all the lady at the store had.”

"Okay then. You wanna put me down?"

Rin swore they were smirking a little. “Is that a good idea?”

He went bright red, and snarled at them. “I’m just fine! I only fell over because I was trying to get to that seat over there!” remembering his original plan, he turned his head back to the couch, which, to his dismay, was covered in tangled limbs. “Fucking dammit! I just wanted a place to sit down! Now I’m going to have to wander around here for another million years! Nagisa’s new place is a fucking maze!”

"I know my way around here. There’s somewhere quiet we can go."

"You’re a saint. You’re going to need to let go of me for us to get there, though."

He was dropped and almost took a dive whilst giving a short, unflattering screech before he was hoisted up again- not simply to the chest of the stranger, but with his entire body in their arms.

"What the  _fuck,_ you are  _not_ carrying me like a princess-“

"You can’t walk on your own, it would be dangerous for me to leave you there." they continued to walk, ignoring most of Rin’s complaints, until-

"Hell, I don’t even know who you are-"

"I don’t know who you are, either. What’s your name?"

Rin flushed. “It’s Rin, and I like he and him pronouns.”

 _Shit._ Saying his pronouns was second nature to him by now, but what if they thought it was weird?

They didn’t even blink. “Haru. He/him.”

_Hallelujah, he doesn’t think I’m weird._

His momentary elation was cut short by the realization that they were suddenly very far from the party and it was very dark and  _oh Jesus Christ what-_

"We’re here."

There was light, and…

"A pool?"

"There’s seats and you’re away from people."

"And?"

"And you can probably take your shoes off here."

"Holy shit. You’re a prodigy."

Haru frowned slightly under his mask and looked away. Rin adjusted his own mask, pulled off his shoes  _(Hallelujah)_ and flopped onto a sun lounge nearby with a groan. “These shoes were a mistake.”

"Then why did you wear them?"

"I didn’t have any shoes to go with this dress, and I couldn’t not wear it because this mask looks weird with everything else I own, so I borrowed my sister’s. Her feet are smaller than mine. Ow."

"That does sound like a mistake."

"I look fucking great, though."

"Yeah."

Rin’s mask wasn’t quite large enough to cover his blush. “Um! So. How do you know Nagisa?”

"We swam together in high school."

"No way, dude! You swim too?"

"Not competitively. Not anymore. I’m a chef now."

"Why’d you quit?"

Haru frowned harder. “Didn’t really feel it any more. How do you know Nagisa?”

Rin snorted. “I, uh, arrested him, actually.”

Haru gave a choked laugh. “Really?”

"Yeah! He was fighting some creeps that were talking shit about Rei. Makoto joined in at first, but then he actually called us to come get them. Nagisa didn’t really seem worried about getting arrested, but Makoto almost started crying, poor nerd."

"Yeah, that sounds like them."

"Nagisa and I started talking in the car on the way to the station, and everything just went downhill from there. Fucking Nagisa."

"So, why didn’t you swim?"

Painfully aware of the shift in the atmosphere, Rin shrugged and fiddled with the hem of his dress. “Kind of for the same reason as you, I guess. There just felt like something was missing, you know? I remember meeting this kid, though, when I was really little. He was fucking incredible! I remember, the day before I’d been at school, and my teacher was doing this thing where she gave us a random fun fact, and that day it was that humans were made of the same stuff stars were made of. I didn’t really get it when she said it, but this kid! I looked at him and I remember just thinking,  _holy shit. She was right._ And then I ran over and jumped in with him, and God, It was like nothing I’d ever felt before. I kept swimming because I thought I could feel that again but… I never found him. And I just ended up… Disappointed.”

There was silence.

"I mean! I didn’t actually think "holy shit" because I was like eight and I didn’t even know swears existed and-"

"No, I understand you. I know what that feels like."

"Uh."

The silence continued, until Haru’s voice sounded again.

"Your feet feeling better?"

"Sorta. They hurt a lot less, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to put them back on, which sucks, cause this dress looks really cool when I dance and I can’t show it off back at the house."

"We can dance here."

"But there’s no music!"

Haru rolled his eyes and extended his hand to Rin. “Come here.”

Against his better judgment, Rin took it, and then there was a hand on his waist and another grasped in his and his hand was on Haru’s shoulder and Haru’s eyes were on his and he was humming something in a way that sounded really off key. _  
_

"I don’t think you’re in tune."

"Just dance."

Their dance was less of anything that had any kind of intricate or planned steps but rather gentle swaying as Haru hummed. Their positions became more and more slumped as they went on until eventually, both of Haru’s arms were around his waist, both of his arms were wrapped around Haru’s shoulders, and their faces were very, very close together.

Their impromptu music stopped as Haru quietly said “May I?”

The overly polite words made Rin smirk. “You may.”

The first time, their masks bumped together. Rin snorted as Haru frowned, adjusted his mask slightly, and moved closer again.

_Oh._

He knew that kisses were never as good as books said they were, but  _fuck._ This one came close.

When they drew back, Rin couldn’t really do anything but breathe and stare, and he was pretty sure Haru was smirking again.

He moved in to go again, but something small, blonde, and  _naked_ distracted him by leapfrogging over his shoulders and landing in the pool with a cheer. 

_Fucking Nagisa._

Just like on the first night  he’d met him, Nagisa had no idea how to read situations and respond appropriately.

He surfaced, grinning and spitting out water. “Hey guys!”

"Fuck off, Nagisa." Rin groaned, rolling his eyes. 

"I love you too, Rinrin! Haru, heads up- People are headed this way. Lots of them."

Haru frowned. “Time for me to leave, then.”

When Haru let go of him, Rin surged forward and grabbed his arm. “Wait! Can you, uh… Help me get back?”

Haru was definitely smirking. “Sure thing,  _Rinrin._ ”

Rin would have punched him but considering Haru was how he was getting back he just glared. He grabbed his shoes and was scooped up by Haru.

Getting back took a lot longer than it had taken to get to the pool because Haru kept fucking stopping to kiss him. After about ten years, they finally arrived back at Nagisa’s house.

"So. Uh. This is me, I guess."

"Me too."

"Well. Uh. Bye." Rin began to climb out of Haru’s arms and had made it to the floor when he was stopped by his cry of "Rin"

He turned back, and he swore Haru was shaking where he still held Rin’s upper body. He took an arm away from Rin and slowly, gently, lifted his mask.

_Stars._

His face had barely changed- He was older and taller, yes, but there was still that silent fire behind his eyes that Rin had been chasing for years and years. That feeling was back again- that one that he’d known all those years ago, what had given him a new dream.

Haru raised his head slightly, briefly, a gesture most likely indicating that Rin should take off his mask too. With shaking hands, he complied.

Haru’s eyes somehow got even brighter. They moved closer, and finally,  _finally,_ their unmasked faces met.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay this got really long and I'm sorry  
> The title is from Lost Stars by Keira Knightley she can randomly sing now in addition to being pretty okay  
> Also the song Haru hums is Á ferð til Breiðafjarðar vorið 1922 by Sigur Rós, don't question why he's randomly into Icelandic post rock.  
> My tumblr is rinmatsuokka, come yell about transfree! with me


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